Water Rites (29 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

T
he wind picked up during the night. It blew down the Gorge in fierce gusts, shaking the old house, tugging at the dried-out shingles, sifting dust and grit between the cracks in the walls. Awake in the darkness, Nita listened to the wind, listened for the sound of Dan’s truck. Rachel whimpered and struggled in her sleep and Nita held her close.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” Nita touched her daughter’s face. “I’m giving you bad dreams, worrying about Dan.” Her daughter’s dark hair felt as fine as milkweed down beneath her fingers. Her fault, her DNA. The windows rattled, closed against the blowing dust. Nita slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the room to peer through the glass. The sky was dark and starless, and Nita shivered in her thin shirt. Maybe Carter would listen. Maybe he would believe Dan.

Carter didn’t trust anyone. Not really. He wasn’t going to believe Dan.

*

The wind rose to a booming crescendo just before dawn, but by the time the sun was well up, it had dropped to fitful gusts. Nita fed Rachel, wanting to start for town right now. It wasn’t to be. Outside, the dust storm had bowed the plants to the ground. If she didn’t do something about it, Dan would lose his crop. She had been hired to take care of the beans. Chafing at the delay, Nita spread Rachel’s blanket in the shade of the box that housed the water meter and set her daughter down. Rachel grabbed for her toes, drooling and grinning. “You
are
teething, aren’t you?” Nita peered into her daughter’s mouth, then tickled her round belly until Rachel laughed.

Draping her sunscarf over her head, she stared down the bean rows, propping up the wilting stems, shaking dust from wind-shredded leaves. The powdery dust stuck to her skin as the morning crawled by, turned muddy by her sweat. Nita wiped her face, back aching, unwilling to take a break. Only a few more rows. The water would come on at dusk and soak the field. Maybe it would help.

Finished, at last. She scooped up Rachel, started for the porch. The figure limping up the track to the house caught her by surprise. Jeremy. In spite of her worries, she smiled as the landscape shimmered into a thousand shades of green. “Did you walk all the way from town?” she asked as they met at the porch. “Would you like a drink?”

“Yes, and yes, thank you. People used to say ‘hello, how are you?’ a generation ago.” He grinned at her. “Now, we say ‘hello, would you like a drink?’ I guess thirst is more important than your health and well being now.”

“I never thought of it that way. Sit,” she said because his knees hurt him. “I’ll bring it out here.” The pain had a worn feeling to it, like a piece of stone that had been polished by wind and water until the sharp edges had worn away. They had hurt him all his life, she guessed.

She carried two mugs out onto the porch, handed him one. “Is there anything I can do? For the pain?”

“You feel it, too?” He looked down at the lumpy bulge of his kneecaps. “That must be rough sometimes.”

“Yes.” Nita drank half of her water, her eyes on the dry gash of the riverbed below. “My father used to sit on this porch. I wonder if he could remember it — water in the riverbed. Maybe that’s why he worked so hard to save this town. Or maybe it was because he was like me,” she said softly. “Maybe it trapped him — all those needs and hopes and fears around him. Maybe he couldn’t say no, Jeremy. She’s going to blame me.” Nita poked a finger into Rachel’s palm, swallowed hard as Rachel clutched it. “I did this to her.”

“Only if you hide it.” Jeremy’s face was still, without sympathy. “Only if you deny what you are.”

“How can I deny it?” Nita blinked as the ground around the house went green with short, tough-looking grass. She reached, passed her fingers through a thin stalk of white flowers. “It still surprises me.” And she smiled because she couldn’t help it. “Are you doing it on purpose?”

“I can’t really control the visions. They just happen.” Jeremy crossed his arms on his raised knees, moody suddenly. “I came up here to . . . apologize to Dan. For yesterday. I was . . . rude.”

“He felt guilty.” Nita studied his face. “That he left you behind.”

“Did he?” Jeremy looked surprised. “I wasn’t angry about that. What he told me, back then, was that my makings were wonderful. I stayed behind because I believed him. But he was wrong.” Jeremy shrugged. “They’re nothing. They’re dangerous.” He touched his chest, remembered pain clouding the air between them. “I needed someone to blame for that. I never really expected to see him again.”

The hurting inside him was worse than his knees. Nita reached for Jeremy’s hand and his fingers tightened around hers.

“The past matters, Jeremy.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He stared down into the riverbed. “It just makes the dust seem worse, it makes people crazy. So, is Dan here?”

“No.” Nita lifted her head, her worry coming back in a rush. “He went down to the base last night, and he didn’t come back. I was just about to go down there.” She picked up Rachel, went to get her sling, and twisted it over her shoulder.

“The base is closed to civilians.”

“Maybe Carter will talk to me. I hope so.”

“Carter Voltaire? I’ve met him,” Jeremy said thoughtfully. “I like him. I get the feeling that he’s caught in the middle of this water war and it scares him shitless.”

“He doesn’t trust Dan.” Nita tucked Rachel into the sling. “He thinks Dan is behind the sabotage and stuff and he isn’t.”

“So go tell him that. Tell him how you know.”

“He won’t believe me.” She looked away.

“Won’t he?” Jeremy followed her into the house as she filled a water jug at the tap. “I think he will. Is that what you’re afraid of?”

“Cut it out.” Nita scooped Rachel out of the sling as she started to fuss. “What do you want from me, Jeremy?”

“I want you to use your talent.” Jeremy lifted Rachel out of her arms. “Would you fill mine, too?” He held out a plastic two-liter. “I think I can get us onto the base.”

She turned on the tap hard, not caring that she splashed water all over the counter, about to tell him that she didn’t want his help. But the sound of an engine interrupted her. It wasn’t Dan, she knew the sound of his truck, but she ran outside anyway, wanting to believe that someone else had given him a ride home for some reason. The car was just pulling up beside the porch, a new all-electric, covered in dust. Nita halted at the top step as the driver got out. It was Carter’s friend.

“Hello.” He smiled at her, but he wasn’t pleased to see her. “Is Dan Greely around?”

“No, he’s not,” Nita said quickly. “He’s in town. Could you give us a ride, on your way back?”

“I’m sorry.” His expression of polite regreat covered a stab of irritation that made Nita wince. “I’m going straight back to Bonneville. I’m on a tight schedule.” He glanced pointedly at his watch.

“Which means you have to drive right into The Dalles to pick up Eighty-four.” Jeremy had come out onto the porch behind Nita. “Out here folks don’t say no when someone asks for a ride. Walking in the sun is grim.”

Nita watched the friend — Johnny, she remembered his name — notice Jeremy’s hands. His revulsion showed briefly on his face, clearly enough for Jeremy to see it. “Maybe I’ll just wait around for Dan for awhile.” His smile was wearing thin. “I’ll pick you up on the way down, if I pass you.”

“If we’ve got to walk, we’d better get moving.” Jeremy shoved his hands into his pockets.

Nina hesitated. This man wanted them to leave. Why? What did Dan have that was worth stealing? Nothing this man couldn’t buy with the money he probably had in his pockets, from the look of his clothes. “I’m not going to town.” She sat down on the top step, ignoring Jeremy’s surprise. “I told Dan I’d wait for him.” She lifted Rachel from her sling and sat her on her lap.

“Oh, forget it, I’ll give you a ride.” The man’s smile was more in keeping with his sour mood, now. “No point in sticking around here for hours.”

He knows, Nita thought, and felt a sudden chill. He knew that Dan wasn’t coming back. A fist closed tight in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

“I think I’m lost.” Jeremy gave her a narrow look. “Are we getting a ride or staying here?”

“Let’s go.” Nita stood quickly. “We appreciate the lift.” She gave this Johnny a very sweet smile.

He didn’t speak to them as they climbed into the car. Cool air whispered from the vents, making Rachel chuckle with delight. He didn’t say one word as he eased the car down the rutted road into The Dalles. He was pissed that they’d been at Dan’s house — what had he been after? Was he doing something for Carter? She almost asked him, but something made her hold her tongue. He pulled over at the interstate ramp and stopped the car with a jerk. “I hope this is okay.”

And to hell with you if it isn’t? “It’s fine,” Nita said as they got out of air-conditioned car. What did Carter owe this man? The car peeled away with a scatter of gravel and she jumped as Jeremy put his hand on her arm.

“Want to tell me what was going on?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned at him. “He doesn’t know Dan, and he wanted to get into the house. He was mad that we were there.”

“Maybe one of us should have stayed,” Jeremy said thoughtfully. “Is he connected to the Pipeline mess?”

“He’s Carter’s friend,” Nita said reluctantly. Full of nagging dread, she and Jeremy walked to the base gate.

The guard scowled at them, but Jeremy wasn’t worried. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. The dread thickened in her belly, growing heavier as the minutes ticked by. Carter finally appeared, walking fast. She didn’t need to see his face to feel his frown as he spotted her.

“Jeremy?” He glanced at Nita, avoiding her eyes. “Don’t ask me to let Greely go. I assume that’s why you’re here.”

“You arrested him?” Until that moment she hadn’t realized how much she had feared that he was dead, like her father. “He’s here?”

“Yes.” His face tightened. “With cause. I’m sorry.”

He was hurting inside. He hadn’t listened to Dan, didn’t want to listen to her. In a moment, he would turn around and walk back through that glittering metal gate. “Carter, you need to hear me,” she said. “Because you care about what’s happening here.”

“Call it payment,” Jeremy said to Carter.

Carter frowned, looked at Jeremy and away. “I can spare you a few minutes. That’s all.” He sighed, not wanting to be here. “It’s not going to change anything,” he said. “It’s beyond me, now.”

“We’ll take what we can get,” Jeremy said cheerfully. And gave Nita a look.

She walked through the ugly gate. The unformed guard saluted Carter and his eyes slid to Nita. He leered at her behind Carter’s back and his lust raked her. She lifted her chin. A moment later a strangled squawk made her look back. The guard was slapping frantically at his back, neck craned to stare over his shoulder. Nita sneaked a look at Jeremy.

He walked serenely next to her. His face was calm, but she felt his amusement. She touched his arm lightly, smiling in spite of her apprehension, and kept her hand on his arm as they walked down the dusty street between the sterile blocks of buildings. Carter wasn’t taking them to his apartment. She looked up at the looming cliff-face of the dam, hoped they wouldn’t go any closer. The air was full of anger, fear, and tension. It pressed around her, smothering as a heavy blanket, making Rachel start to cry. The dam leaned over them, seemingly ready to fall. Carter turned aside and held open the door to a long, low building.

It was cool inside, as cool as the car had been. The sweat on Nita’s skin chilled instantly, and Rachel cooed. They were walking down a pastel-walled hallway lined with doors. Two uniformed men passed them, their bland faces masking hostility. Nita nearly stumbled into Carter as he stopped to open a door.

He stepped aside quickly, not wanting to touch her, and ushered them into a cramped office. “Dan Greely trespassed on Corps property last night.” Carter closed the door with a small bang. “He’s safely locked up, waiting for the U.S. Marshal. I can’t let him go and that’s the bottom line. Is there anything else?”

Rachel began to cry again, fretful and shrill. Without a word, Jeremy stepped forward and lifted Rachel from Nita’s arms. “We’ll wait for you in the hall,” he said, and walked out.

Nita felt a flash of panic as the door closed behind them, cutting off the sound of Rachel’s fretting. “Dan came here to tell you something important,” Nita faltered.

“He didn’t have anything important to say to me.”

He hurt. “Damn it, Carter.” Nita groped for anger, seized it like a lifeline. “Didn’t you even listen to him? About the new fields in the Valley?”

“It’s not happening.” Carter lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I’m busy, Nita.”

“It
is
happening.” Words, words, she needed words. Nita took a deep breath. “Renny Warren — a trucker — told me about them, and I told Dan. He thought it was important — important enough to risk getting arrested or shot to tell you. Doesn’t that matter to you? Or are you in on this? Is that it?” She felt a sudden chill. “Your friend Johnny gave us a ride this afternoon. He was snooping around Dan’s house. Are you both in on it? Are you getting some kind of cut for giving water to the Valley?”

“No,” Carter said. “I’m not. And neither is Johnny.”

His anger stung, but it filled her with relief. He wasn’t in on it. “Okay, I apologize. But Renny Warren was telling the truth. Dan said you had to cut the Gorge because the Valley crops would die — but that’s not true, is it?”

“It is true. I can’t help but think you’re saying this so I’ll let Greely go. Johnny’s in San Francisco, by the way.” Carter turned his back on her and leaned over his desk. “I have a lot of reports to catch up on.”

“He’s not in San Francisco. He was at the market yesterday, too.” Nita walked around his desk and leaned on it so that he had to look her in the face. “You still think I’ve made some kind of choice between you and Dan,” she said bitterly. “The choice was never between you. I didn’t walk away from you. I ran away because I cared too damn much and I didn’t know if David was alive or dead back then. I couldn’t love you when I didn’t know . . .” Her voice broke and she looked away, fighting tears.